What made you quit a game(something about game)?

[rpgmakerxp]

Hi, so basically I want to look at the stuff people reply with to get more insight on other players to incorporate or take those thoughts/experiences into consideration when creating future games.  Perhaps others can use this information too.


Here's are my experiences:


There really are 2 main reasons I have ever "quit" a game.  One is the game was too long(not having enough time to finish) and eventually lost interest in even trying to play it ever again.


The second reason was a game that had a unique battle system(complicated usage of summons/elemental boosts equipeed, etc.), so much so that I literally had little idea what I was doing aside from standard attacks and defending.  The problem was there was NO TUTORIAL.  The random battles were so slow probably, because I had no idea what was going on that I eventually just gave up after 4-5 hours(no in game help/tutorial on battle system/mechanics).

 

[Labyrinthine]

I usually quit a game if the story is not interesting. Another reason is what almost happened to me when I played Skywayrd Sword- the game had too much hand holding. It would've been a great game otherwise, and in the end I finished it anyway 'cause I'm a Zelda fan : -)


Another game with even worse handholding was Ni No Kuni. The entire game felt like one, long tutorial, all the way to the point where I played it which was about 40% through. Couldn't force myseIf to finish that one, because I felt it was insulting my intelligence.


I really don't like tutorials unless they're really essential for understanding the mechanics of the game. This usually applies only to games with really complex battle systems.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Poor pacing. Sometimes I'll initially be intrigued by a story but hit a massive patch with no new information and be in a seemingly endless dungeon. Unless the game play is wicked fun, I might lose interest. That's usually the main one for me. 

 

[bgillisp]

Cheating enemies and needless grinding. I really *hate* it when enemies are not restricted to the same system the player is, as that makes it hard to plan and use proper tactics in the battle.


And if a game suddenly requires me to grind 15 - 20 levels out of the blue to beat a boss, I'll often quit it. Worse if it is a final boss, because then you're just padding the game to get an extra 5 - 10 hours of playtime. In fact, forcing excessive grinding before I can win the games final boss is a great way to get me to post a negative review about your game, so please just don't do it.

 

[Matseb2611]

Reasons I quit playing a game indefinitely:


- The story is boring, very cliche, badly paced.


- The game is too unforgiving and I find myself making no progress for a good chunk of time (getting stuck on the same part, or dying repeatedly in between widely-spaced checkpoints).


- The gameplay becomes stale after 10 minutes and there's nothing more to it.


- The game forces me to grind a lot and waste time.


- The game is massively padded with levels that are way longer than they should be and/or enemy encounters being too frequent.


- The game is broken, glitchy, full of bugs, and the like.


- The game has a poor sense of direction, throwing you into large locations with no clues as to where to go and what to do.

 

[KayZaman]

I quitted playing games because I'm old enough even I'm 20's but I'm still can't stop playing games.


If online games, I quitted because of hackers especially FPS games that really lose my fun of gaming. CS:GO still my favorite until now coz' no hackers yet.


I quitted games that the stories are boring and no lessons (except Crash series).


I quitted games that stress me out (remember F****y Bird?).


I quitted games that pop out so many ads (I like Freeblade)


I quitted games that....... I donno. There's too many.


Too long : Me either, @rpgmakerxp. I was waiting "where is the ending?" like FF series. But it's still fun if that certain story is favorite.


No tutorial : worse that long tutorial that @Labyrinthine mentioned.

 

[Lantiz]

When the tasks gets repetitive: e.g. Interstellaria is an awesome game, lots of places to go, funny characters, big galaxy to explore, ship/crew management... really awesome, but after some time i found it to be just about "go to a npc, fly to a planet/station, reveal map, gather resources, find a clue (object or npc), repeat".


Messy UI; Too much hotkeys; Bad movement; Generic plot;


EDIT: Also when the game makes you run in circles, like go to a place do something, go back to a place close where you were, go to a third place, go to the second place again. An example is the witcher 1.

 

[Warboss74]

I tend to quit games when I get bored or frustrated with them. That can be any number of things that bore me, many of the reasons people have already listed. The frustration is when I just can't get past a certain part whether that be I can't figure out the boss or I hit a point in the story that I just can't find what I need to advance.

 

[Kes]

This is not really a discussion about the principles of game making; rather it's a simple listing of aspects people don't like.  This, therefore, isn't really the place for it.


I've moved this thread to General Lounge. Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.

 

[Wavelength]

The single most frequent reason I'll quit a game once I've gotten a few hours in is that I get "stuck" and can't figure out the answer to a puzzle, the way forward in a dungeon, or the next plot flag I'm supposed to trigger.  The number of times this has happened to me in a game I'm actually enjoying is easily in the double digits, and it's a sad feeling when I can no longer play and enjoy a game that I liked because of this.


I've also quit games because the character or plot turned me off (i.e. I started to find it unlikable), because the action became far too slow or grindy, because I feel insulted by a pay-to-win or pay-to-progress business model, or because I started playing another game and the original game (which I took a break from) was too mechanically complex to pick back up where I left off and perform well.

 

[RHachicho]

The biggest reason I have to quit a game is when it forces me into mechanics I don't like. For example there are some games with really cool plot elements and characters that I have quit because of some bs stealth or combat timing system. A lot of people dis turn based games. But I like being able to sit back and appreciate the art and music. And watch the characters do their thing without some weird timing mechanic or qte bs bringing me out of my enjoyment. It's usually an attempt to please the "zomg turn based is bad" variety of gamer. I like rpg's where I have time to think thank-you.


This is one of the reasons I personally loathe the ATB battle system. I love the CTB one as it adds to complexity without rushing the player. And I think that rpg mechanics that rush the player too much really detract from the strengths of the genre. To me a good RPG is supposed to be savored and If I can't because the game wants me to mash in a impromptu button combo to make a move happen or stare at a timing wheel I instantly dislike that.


A good example is Shadow hearts. While I loved the game and did complete it .. I HATED the judgement wheel. However Grandia's charge turn system was amazing. One of my favorite battle systems .. period.

 

[Astel]

When an open game becomes so open i get lost, drowning and aimless in a sea of sidequests.

 

[rpgmakerxp]

This is not really a discussion about the principles of game making; rather it's a simple listing of aspects people don't like.  This, therefore, isn't really the place for it.


I've moved this thread to General Lounge. Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.

Ah oh sorry about that. I wasn't sure since I was using their responses to guide future game creation, hence the name of the forum (game making, etc.).  I'll keep this in mind. Thanks.

 

[Espon]

I rarely quit games once I start playing them, even if they end up being quite lousy.  If I do quit something, it's because it's very boring and tedious.


A recent game I played had one of the worst crafting systems I ever seen and navigating menus required three to four times as many button presses than it normally should.  I just couldn't take it anymore.  It shouldn't take me over 10 button presses to use a healing potion, or over 50 steps to make some boots.

 

[Chester]

If the story sucks, for example in Crimson Gem Saga: Dont get me wrong but it is a beautiful game but half-way into the story, everyone pretty much just still hates each other and no one's really "unified."


In Guild Wars 2, the guy writing the original story ran off to do another game and well, the story just went downhill after he left. The story for the new expansion is horrifying to me.

 

[Wavelength]

 And watch the characters do their thing without some weird timing mechanic or qte bs bringing me out of my enjoyment. It's usually an attempt to please the "zomg turn based is bad" variety of gamer. I like rpg's where I have time to think thank-you.

I don't want to waylay the topic too far, but I do feel the need to say that such mechanics are not to pander to "zomg i hate teh turn base fightz" gamer (and this kind of gamer rarely exists anyhow since RPGs require some patience anyhow).


It's usually to bring a higher level of engagement to combat itself.  Once you've "solved" combat, the only way to stay interested is if the game forces you to engage yourself in some kind of skill-based mechanic or adds real time as a factor.


The other side of the argument is that truly well-designed turn-based combat doesn't get solved at any point, and therefore the engagement should be there nonetheless because the player is constantly thinking - and that's absolutely true!  But most RPG combat fails to reach these lofty heights.

 

[The Mighty Palm]

I'll often quit a game for one of three reasons.

1. It's too long. Yes, if a game goes on forever and ever then I'll get bored and move on. 
2. It's too repetitive. By this I mean if I still have the same abilities and am fighting the same kind of enemies by the 1/4 of the way point, you lost me.
3. Poor "hook". When there is nothing to grab your attention and make you want to keep playing then I don't. Simple.

 

[RavenBlueIndigo]

I don't quit games often. I like to stick to the end and sometimes I get invested in the story. I've quit a few RM games on my stream though. There was one that was literally just one big battle gauntlet with a ridiculous raise in difficulty, and then there was another where the bosses were so much more ridiculous than the normal enemies. Perhaps I could've been using the wrong setup because it was a game where you could recruit enemies as party members a la pokemon. Also, I don't consider this game quit as I DO want to finish it, but I've been unable to beat ruffus in Black Cat Story, which I sorta love, xD. I've been meaning to get back to it but Ruffus is . . . Well, he's Ruffus.

 

[Julien Brightside]

I quit playing Heroes of Might and Magic 6 because the game kept crashing after 30 minutes.


I stopped playing Skyrim because after I beat the final boss, all the dungeons felt the same.

 

[rpgmakerxp]

I don't want to waylay the topic too far, but I do feel the need to say that such mechanics are not to pander to "zomg i hate teh turn base fightz" gamer (and this kind of gamer rarely exists anyhow since RPGs require some patience anyhow).


It's usually to bring a higher level of engagement to combat itself.  Once you've "solved" combat, the only way to stay interested is if the game forces you to engage yourself in some kind of skill-based mechanic or adds real time as a factor.


The other side of the argument is that truly well-designed turn-based combat doesn't get solved at any point, and therefore the engagement should be there nonetheless because the player is constantly thinking - and that's absolutely true!  But most RPG combat fails to reach these lofty heights.

You basically described the etrian odyssey series.  Oh god the battles...regular battles can kill you if you're not careful...


Although, it usually requires some grinding which I've noticed many people on this thread have posted they dislike.